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Loyle Carner<\/a> has spoken to NME<\/em> about how he made his latest album into \u201cthe closest representation\u201d yet to himself as an artist, and shared if fans can expect new music any time soon. Check out the interview in full above.<\/p>\n The London singer, songwriter and rapper caught up with us on the red carpet at the 2026 BRIT Awards<\/a>, where he was nominated for Hip-Hop, Grime and Rap alongside Central Cee, Jim Legxacy, Little Simz, and Dave<\/a>, with the trophy ultimately going to the latter<\/a>.<\/p>\n Speaking to us from the Co-op Live in Manchester, where the event was hosted for the first time<\/a> \u2013 and the first time ever that the ceremony took place outside of London \u2013 Carner discussed the response he has seen to his fourth album, \u2018hopefully!\u2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n That record was the first from the British-Guyanese rapper since he dropped \u2018Hugo\u2019<\/a>\u00a0in 2022, and was praised by NME<\/em><\/a> as seeing the artist \u201ccapture the complexities of adulthood, and enter an enlightened new chapter\u201d.<\/p>\n When asked about what it felt like to see the warm response to the record, Carner explained that it resonated with him particularly because of the vulnerable nature of the LP.<\/p>\n \u201cIt felt really special, because, in any form of art, you\u2019re trying to get closer to who you really are, and \u2018hopefully!\u2019 felt like this was the closest representation I\u2019ve made so far of who I actually am,\u201d he shared. \u201cSo for some people to like it and enjoy it and feel seen by it, it helped me feel like I\u2019m enough.\u201d<\/p>\n He also opened up about how the record saw him lean into clean vocal melodies more than ever, and told us about how self-doubt nearly led to those tracks not making the final cut.<\/p>\n